Spanish Work Exchange Programme group of interns at the beach

We are just like you!

Spanish Work Exchange Programme interns at Jungle Park

Meet the team – for your hotel internships

Hello, I’m Conny Lassen, your placement tutor

Conny Lassen
Conny LassenManager/Tutor

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.”

For more than 20 years now I’ve been living and working here on Tenerife. For the last sixteen years I’ve been organising hotel internships on the Canary Islands. Before that, I worked on Tenerife in various departments of the hotel industry and worked my way to the management team. Before my studies, at the age of 20, I also used to work as a trainee in the entertainment department in a 4 star hotel in Spain. Thus, I can understand your situation. As a young person you just want to get out of your own country for a certain period of time, have lots of fun and gain new experiences. Besides all the new life enriching experiences, it was really important for my future, as I obtained a tremendous amount of self-confidence during that time.

As the manager of the practical placement service S-W-E-P I will do anything possible to help you to have a successful and happy placement on the Canary Islands.

My wanderlust syndrome stayed with me and so I moved to Hawaii, after having successfully completed my studies. During that time, I realised I want to live abroad forever, in a place with pleasant climate conditions. Due to my family, I did not want to be on an island as far away as Hawaii. So I decided on Europe. I was looking for good weather all year round and a rich vegetation. I also value a multicultural population and a low crime rate. So I decided to visit the Canary Islands. Up until now I haven’t regreted my decision once.

We are really living in paradise here!

As the responsible manager of the S-W-E-P placement programme I will do everything possible to help you to have successfully hotel internships on the Canary Islands, on the Spanish mainland, in Malta, in Costa Rica or in Greece. You can contact me anytime.

¡Hola! I’m Chrissy, working in the Marketing and HR Department for S-W-E-P

“In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take”

As part of my studies, I had to do an internship abroad, which is why I came into contact with S-W-E-P. It was very important to me to complete my internship abroad, because it not only allows me to experience many new cultures, but also to expand my knowledge in an international context.

I think that everyone who has the opportunity to go abroad to do an hotel internship should take advantage of it. The things you experience in other countries, both at work and in your free time, you won’t be able to experience in the same way at home. This feeling of independence is really indescribable. Of course, it takes some courage at first, but once you arrive, you won’t want to go anywhere else. The consistently warm temperatures, the walks on the beach and the heartfelt people quickly make you realize that this was one of the best decisions you could have made.

Therefore, I can only sincerely recommend you to take the first step!

Christin Göpfert
Christin GöpfertHR & Marketing

¡Buenos dias! I am Rieke, working in the HR and Marketing Department at S-W-E-P office

Rieke Redenius
Rieke RedeniusHR & Marketing

“No such thing as spare time, no such thing as free time, no such thing as down time. All you got is life time. Go.”

My path at S-W-E-P began with an internship. I think internships are about breaking out of our comfort zone and gaining new experiences. I like to see, how happy our interns are when we have organized a hotel internship for them. In the beginning, the interns come to us with many questions and uncertainties. I like to mentor the interns from those uncertainties to the last step of their internship and see how much they enjoy their hotel internships.

For those, who want to take the chance to do an internship abroad, I can warmly recommend the Canary Islands. The wonderful climate all year round, creates a balance between work and life, so you have the best conditions to have a good time and gain professional experience.

Hello, I’m Andreas, a freelancer working for S-W-E-P

I came to the Canary Islands and I started off doing an internship organised by S-W-E-P as an assistant manager in a 5-star hotel on Lanzarote. After this I work in a hotel here on Tenerife and part-time for the Spanish Work Exchange Programme in the field of administration.

I think it is great to see how many young people benefit from the opportunity to work here on the Canary Islands, how they gain professional experience and the amount of enthusiasm they report about their experiences with. I can understand this enthusiasm, because life here has many advantages: a good climate, a wide range of recreational activities available, highly diversified nature and lots of nice people from all over the world. There is a lot to discover on the Canary Islands and it takes you a while to realise what else the islands have to offer other than the tourist hotspots.

From my own experience I can really recommend doing hotel internships with S-W-E-P. Conny’s contacts, experience and her support for the interns is fantastic and who knows what opportunities may arise after your hotel placement finishes …

Andreas
AndreasFreelancer

Hello, I am Katrin, a freelancer for S-W-E-P organizing hotel internships

Katrin
KatrinFreelancer

I started my hotel internship in a 5 star hotel on Tenerife, which was organised by S-W-E-P. During my internship I travelled and was so impressed by everything on the island and of course, the wonderful climate helped. The work in the hotel was a lot of fun. My colleagues and I understood each other right away, which helped me to learn Spanish – they talked with me in their mother tongue. During my hotel internship I spoke with Conny a lot.
Now I am working as a freelance translator in Spanish/German and English/German. It is fun to work with the S-W-E-P team. I am excited to see how many young interns, just like me, were influenced by the Canaries.

During my internship I had a memorable time and I can only recommend everyone to make the most of their placements and time in a foreign country. In general, hotel internships abroad are great if you want to improve your language skills, gain work experiences and intercultural competences.

¡Buenos dias! I’m Nicole and work for S-W-E-P in the IT department

I wanted to get away from the stresses of university, do something different before the “serious side of life” begins, that was my plan.

I am working for S-W-E-P in the IT department. Our enterprise is young, has a lot of positive energy, commitment and it’s a lot of fun working here. From the outset, I decided to learn about the Spanish culture which I wasn’t familiar with at all, I ended up falling in love with it and immersing myself into it. I dance flamenco, have Spanish friends, speak Spanish every day and eat Spanish food, above all I love the fresh fish here. The canarian attitude to life is contagious. Sun, beach and sea means you’re always in a happy, positive mood and when you find yourself sitting in a beachside bar, wearing summer clothes in winter, listening to lounge music accompanied by the rushing sea and drinking delicious wine, you never want to leave this perfect place again.

The decision to come here was the best I could have made and if I could go back, I would make the same decision again.

Nicole
NicoleIT department